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Mika Penniman
Mika (born Michael Holbrook Penniman Jr.) is a British singer/song-writer. He was born on August 18, 1983. He recorded his first EP Dodgy Holiday EP, then later released his first album Life in Cartoon Motion, on Islands Records in 2007. The album helped Mika win a BRIT Award and a Grammy Nomination. Two years later, Mika released his second extended play, Songs for Sorrow. In 2009, Mika released his second album The Boy Who Knew Too Much. Biography Early Life MIKA IS LEBANEESE. The first piano piece he learned was "Les Champs-Elysees", by Joe Dassin. After listening to Nirvana's, "Heart-Shaped Box", he wrote his first song. He describes it as an "awful" piano instrumental called "Angry". His family moved to London when he was 9 years old. There, he went to school at the Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle. He experienced severe bullying there and dyslexia problems. In response to these problems, Mika was home-schooled at age 12 by his mother, for six to eight months. Then he attended St. Philip's School in Kensington, where he was the head of Schola Cantorum, the St. Philip's choir. Later he attended Westminster School and the Royal College of Music, which he left to record his first album at Casablanca Records. He altered his given name, Mica, changing the "c" to a "k" because he got frustrated when people often mispronounced it. As a child, Mika was trained by Alla Ardokov (Ablaberdyeva), a Russian opera professional, and later attended the Royal College of music in London. His debut radio appearance was on Dermot O'Leary's BBC Radio 2 show in September 2006. He also appeared on Later...with Jools Holland, and on The Friday Night Project ''on January 19, 2007. Mika is rumored to have a vocal range of 5 octives, but claims it's closer to about 3 and a half octives. Musical Career Early Career: 2004-2006 Mika's first release was a 7"/download release called "Relax (Take It Easy)" (2006). It was play listed by BBC Radio 1 in the United Kingdom, and made Record of the Week by DJ Scott Mills. The ''Dodgy Holiday EP ''also became available for download. The song "Billy Brown" was available for free download for a week from the iTunes Store. A studio outtake titled 'Overrated', which was recorded in 2004, was "unofficially" released online. [[Life in Cartoon Motion|''Life in Cartoon Motion]]: 2006-2008 In January 2007, Mika was on the top of BBC News website's Sound of 2007 poll. His single "Grace Kelly" was released Universal Music for digital download on January 8, 2007. It reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart on January 21, 2007. Mika's debut album, ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' was released on February 5, 2007. It has brought comparisons with artists such as Freddie Mercury, Scissor Sisters, Elton John, Prince, Robbie Williams, and David Bowie. "Grace Kelly" references Mercury in the lyrics, "I tried to be like Grace Kelly/But all her looks were too sad/So I tried a little Freddie/I've gone identity mad". Mika was the musical act for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 26, 2007 and February 14, 2008,and for Jimmy Kimmel Live on March 27, 2007. He also performed live at So You Think You Can Dance on July 26, 2007. In June 2007, Mika toured the United States with help from Sara Bareilles and Natalia Lesz. On October 10, 2007, Mika started his Dodgy Holiday Tour playing across Europe. On November 17, 2007, Mika started the UK part of his tour with help from Palladium. The North American part of his tour started in January 2008 with help from The Midway State and Creature, and continued through February with a pause in Los Angeles for the 50th Grammy Awards. His debut album, ''Life in Cartoon Motion'', has a coming-of-age theme and deals with his transition from childhood to the present, though he has stated that not all of the songs are autobiographal. His songs often deal with difficult topics. For example, in "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" the theme of larger women suffering from discrimination is explored. Mika said that the fact that his mother was a big girl, and that he had seen the prejudices against her, helped him write the song. On February 20, 2008, Mika opened the 2008 BRIT Awards with a live performance of "Love Today", "Grace Kelly", and a duet, "Standing in the Way of Control", with Beth Ditto. He was later awarded the BRIT Award for Best British Breakthrough Artist. Mika has reportedly written songs for other artists, saying, "I write songs for other people under different names most of the time. I have a little family of three names. One of them has been discovered- it's Alice." ''The Boy Who Knew Too Much'': 2009-2010 Because of the release of his second studio album, Mika released a limited-edition EP called Songs for Sorrow on June 8, 2009. The EP includes 4 tracks and a 68-page book featuring lyrics and exclusive illustrated interpretations of each song by some of Mika's favorite artists. The song "Blue Eyes" was used to promote the EP, and was A-listed on the BBC Radio 2 playlist. Mika's second studio album, ''The Boy Who Knew Too Much'', was released on September 21, 2009. Mika recorded majority of the album in Los Angeles with producer and musician Greg Wells, who also produced his debut album ''Life in Cartoon Motion''. The album has been described as Mika dealing with his adolescent teenage years and "in a sense is kind of part two" of his first album. He got a Bafta in 2006 for best Male Artist Worldwide. The album was originally titled We Are Golden after the first single from the album, "We Are Golden". On July 20, 2009 in an on-air interview with DJ Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 1, Mika revealed he was renaming the album, since he wanted "something a little more ridiculous." On August 6, 2009 it was confirmed that the album's title would be ''The Boy Who Knew Too Much''. The album's first single "We Are Golden", debuted on the radio in the United Kingdom on July 20, 2009, on BBC Radio 2 and released for download on September 6, 2009, with the physical release on September 7, 2009. The single debuted at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart on September 13, 2009. The promotional tour of the single included live performances at the iTunes Festival 2009, at The Roundhouse in Camden, London and on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in September 2009. "Blame It On The Girls" was released as the second single in the USA and Japan. This was alongside "Rain" being the second single in the United Kingdom which was released on November 23. It was confirmed that "Blame It On The Girls" would be the third single in the United Kingdom and was released on February 15, 2010. His American promotional tour consisted of live performances on Good Morning America in New York City on September 25, 2009 and the Late Show with David Letterman on October 14, 2009. On November 30, 2009, Mika performed "Let It Snow" in a duet with Japanese pop star Hikaru Utada. On March 21, 2010, Mika sang "Gave It All Away" with Boyzone on ITV1 for Boyzone: A Tribute To Stephen Gately In May 2010, Mika released his new single "Kick Ass", which is the title track to the 2010 Marvel Comics film "Kick-Ass". ''The Origin of Love'': 2012 The Origin of Love is the third studio album released by Mika. The album was released in France on 17 September 2012, and in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2012, via Casablanca Records and Barclay Records respectively. Releases Discography Studio Albums *2007: ''Life in Cartoon Motion'' *2009: ''The Boy Who Knew Too Much'' *2011: The Origin Of Love EPs *2006: Dodgy Holiday *2009: Songs for Sorrow Filmography *2007: Live in Cartoon Motion *2008: Live Parc des Princes Paris Awards and Nominations 2013 Nrj awards Best singer in word Won 2012 Mobo awards Best uk singer Won 2014 Bibi awards Best song 2014 Mika Nrj awards interview Won 2014 Cock studio Best cocert 2012 Mika Reditional awards 2013 Mika Nrj awards languages (7times) Band Members Current Members *Cherisse Ofosu Osei - Drums *Jimmy Sims - Bass and Keyboards *David Whitmey - Keyboards *Martin Waugh - Guitars *IMMA - Backup Vocals Former Members *Luke Juby - Keyboards *Mike Choi - Bass *Saraynade - Backup Vocals *Sam Smith - Backup Vocals﻿ Category:People Category:Mika Wiki Category:Mika Category:1983 Births